iPhone 5 home button to get gesture controls

Will the iPhone 5 get a touch-sensitive gesture control button? Our photographic evidence is piling up with support. This snap of a fresh-faced iPhone 5 with a wider home screen button and repositioned flash has got some buddies, in the form of newly leaked case pics and a wave of gesture control rumours. Our first guess was that Apple would do away with the home button entirely and replace it with an iPhone 5 touchpad, which is starting to look realistic.

This snap of an iPhone 5 screen protector, unearthed by Unwire.hk, suggests that the new sized home button could be used as a swipe-sensitive pad to flick through menus or between full-screen apps. As you can see from our Fonegadget pics, the button looks primed to support left and right swiping thumb gestures. Still, only 11 days until we get some answers.

Also: Al Gore lets slip Apple’s iPhone 5 strategy